Mobo Recommendations

[Regulus]

Ok, I have managed to FINALLY narrow down my mobo to 2.
They are:
1. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-484&depa=0
and
2. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-231&depa=0

Also, I think I have found a compatible processor, could you tell me?
Specs:
Model: Intel Pentium 4 w/ Hyper Threading
Core: Northwood
Operating Frequency: 3.0GHz
FSB: 800MHz
Cache: L1/12K+8K; L2/512K
Voltage: 1.52V
Process: 0.13Micron
Socket: 478
Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, SSE2

Thank you.

 

[Bostonsox46]

Your processor is perfectly compatible, just gotta make sure the socket and FSB are compatible.


I can't say anything about the Gigabyte because I never used it but it looks good, except no raid support, if you plan on using RAID. I used the P4P800 SE for my 1st build about 4-5 weeks ago. I used a 2.8 northwood 800 FSB, an 80GB SATA drive, a Transcend 512MB PC3200 stick of ram, and a 128MB Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 XT and it all worked great. I had zero problems with the motherboard and everything was really easy to set up. I use onboard audio and onboard NIC, the audio is pretty good for onboard, i got a set of $30 2.1 sound speakers so its not like im using the greatest speakers in the world. The SATA drive was simple plug and play, i didn't have to do anything to set them up. The manual has a list of tested memory so If you get the ASUS I would download the manual from Asus.com and check what they approve of for memory, Im sure other memory works but why not play it safe and get the tested stuff.

Oh yeah, your second link is broken. it says www/newegg.com rather then www.newegg.com

 

[ShoobieRat]

Giga-byte boards are a good deal. They tend to be feature packed and run rather well. They don't overclock easily, but if you don't do any of that, they're great! They come with a lot of extras, too, if you buy retail.

I'm not too complete on how they deal with P4's (I've only have six of the giga-byte p4 boards at work), but every AMD giga-byte board I've bought I've pretty much loved. They aren't totally smooth, but they do the job. Plus they break away from the dull-as-386 brown circuit-board color that ASUS seems to love. If you have a windowed case, they look like a rusty paper-towel

ASUS is known for being good with AMD. I'm not sure how good they are with P4's, I've never had a P4-ASUS before.

So, I guess, if you're looking for votes, my vote is for giga-byte.

 

[The Merlin]

Go Gigabyte

 

[mdshort]

You shouldn't get a mobo right now, wait a bit for pci-express.

(I really wan't to upgrade to the most expensive board, but I have an AGP card.)

 

[Bostonsox46]

md makes a good point, if your in no hurry wait a couple months and you can get a PCI-express graphics card and DDR2

 

[The Merlin]

md makes a good point, if your in no hurry wait a couple months and you can get a PCI-express graphics card and DDR2

But that will cost a small fortune And on that term of thinking you would want to wait for BTX form factor

 

[ShoobieRat]

Currently, the only game that really utilizes the PCI-Express speeds is Doom3. Personally, I think yer wasting yer money (and time) jumping onto PCI-Express in it's dawning days.

 

[Regulus]

OK, I think I'll go Giga-Byte, but I'll need to find one w/ RAID.

 

[ShoobieRat]

For 32bit Athlon XP, get a Gigabyte 7N400 Pro II